Sith and Sensibility
by Ava Telcontar
Summary: After being lost in a galaxy far far away Rose has gone through some changes. Now with the Earth in Peril can Rose and the Doctor with the help of the ever intrepid Sarah Jane Smith save the day?
1. Prologue

The Doctor was looking for Rose. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. First she gets lost—three months for him, five years for her. He hadn't liked her disappearing on him then and he liked it even less now. Alright so she was safe on the TARDIS…he still didn't like not knowing where she was. He was well aware, thank you, that his present annoyance was a side affect of three months of worry and frustration.

Rose was in the library. That in itself was a surprise. The Doctor couldn't recall her ever being in the library. He remembered quite clearly her aversion to books or higher learning of any kind. So, to find her in the TARDIS's vast library ensconced in a large leather chair her feet propped up by a footstool surrounded by piles of books was a pleasant surprise.

She was asleep and curled up in the chair clutching a book to her chest. It was 'A Tale of Two Cities'. She was wearing blue flannel pajamas covered in little moons and stars. It made Rose rather look like a present— all she needed was a bow.

He looked bemusedly over the books on the in table three thirtieth century treatises on molecular biology, 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu, 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula K. LeGuin, 'The Phantom Tollbooth' by Norton Juster, the autobiography of William Blake, a history of the Flanex Invasion of 2025, and a thick tome of psychology dated from about the mid 6150's.

"Rose," The Doctor spoke loud enough to wake her but not so loud as to startle her.

She fluttered open wide brown eyes and smiled sleepily at the Time Lord. "Hi."

"Hello." He smiled back.

The young women yawned and stretched.

The Doctor made an all encompassing gesture at the pile of books, "What's all this then?"

"Ah," Rose stood plopping down 'A Tale of Two Cities' next to its fellows. "This is me being struck with an overwhelming sense of my own ignorance." Her smile was rueful. "It had to happen sometime yeah?"

"Rose, you were never ignorant. Tremendously uneducated yes…never ignorant," The Doctor admonished her. He wagged a finger for emphasis.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"This is a great room," she said spinning in a slow circle. The library's reading room was about half as large as a stadium and it was crammed full of books, the floors were hardwood when not covered with plush rugs and long horizontal stained glass windows filled the room with sunlight. One could assume that it was artificial sunlight but then again this was the TARDIS so anything was possible.

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets, "I've always liked it."

"It reminds me of a library I used to dream about when I was a kid. It was full of all the books that never got written." She smiled, "There was a talking raven."

The Doctor blinked. A dream library? Now why did that sound familiar?

"So where are we? When are we?"

"Scunthorp, England 2006; there's a rumor of a mysterious unidentified craft disappearing from satellite right over Scunny." The Doctor announced cheerily.

Rose looked down at her jimjams, "Can I change into something a little more investigative?"

* * *

The Doctor was peering at a view screen. He had hacked into the satellite that had caught the unidentified craft. He didn't recognize it. Even it's energy signature was unknown.

Rose bounced into the control room, "I've missed trainers." She had changed from pajama's to blue jeans, gray trainers, a white tank with silver starbursts covered by a pink hoodie and a jacket made out of bright green and blue lizard skin. "So, what have we got?" She looked over his shoulder.

"Nothing with a side helping of nothing," He tapped off the feed with a disgusted snort.

Outside the TARDIS it was mid afternoon. It was one of those rare sunny autumn days when the sun glared balefully down and the temperature went up to sixty-five degrees. Truly sweltering weather for England.

Rose slid out behind the Doctor and suppressed a shiver despite the heat.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," she murmured.


	2. Chapter 1

Sarah Jane Smith was in trouble. Being chased and menaced was rather old hat albeit, this had mostly happened off planet. Two humans and four robots that looked a bit like praying mantises were new. She wasn't sure K-9 could take on all six.

"**We are in trouble mistress."** K-9 announced.

"I noticed that," snapped Sarah Jane. She instantly regretted snapping. How could a tin dog look so bloody woebegone? K-9 needed but to tilt his head in a certain way and before she knew it she was buying him that new circuit breaker he'd been wanting.

Goon-One, a tall man wearing an ill-fitting blue suit stepped forward. "Now, come on Miss. Smith. Mr. Cross only wants to talk to you." He had a voice like cold oatmeal.

"If he just wanted to talk to me why did he send you? Seems a bit of an over kill really." Sarah Jane stuck her chin out defiantly.

Goon-Two shrugged almost apologetically, "He thought you might be unreasonable about it." This one wore an ill-fitting black suit. He was also considerably shorter than Goon-One.

Sarah Jane smiled, "I am being reasonable. K-9!"

"**Yes mistress?" **

"Can you take out the robots?"

"**Unknown."** The retro robotic dog managed to sound vastly displeased. In truth K-9 did not know. He knew that they were made for battle…bad; that he and his mistress were outnumbered…bad; he knew that the weapons carried by the men were far superior to anything this world had to offer…all bad. He knew many things… many non useful things.

Sarah Jane steeped back as Goon-Two came forward lifting his weapon.

"Hello!" This voice was full of insolent laughter. This was the voice of someone who'd defied—pretty much everyone and everything really. This was the voice of someone who'd never found something it didn't dare to say.

Sarah Jane knew that voice. Oh the inflections and tone and timbre were completely different from the one that had preceded it. But she knew that voice.

And sure enough. It was him. The Doctor. He strolled around the corner, his old-new self in pinstriped suit and trainers.

He patted K-9 on the head.

"**Master!,"** K-9 barked mechanically.

"Sarah Jane!" Rose ignored the goons and the robots in favor of giving the investigative reporter a hug.

Sarah Jane returned the hug, her heart rate returning to something like normal. The Doctor was here. Everything would turn out all right.

The Doctor reached into his overcoat pocket and brought out his sonic screwdriver setting it on 'Setting 234' also known as 'The blow it up' setting.

"Couldn't stay out of trouble could you?" The Doctor asked with a tilt of his fashionably messy head.

"It's not like I go looking for trouble." Sarah Jane protested.

The Doctor gave her a look.

Rose just grinned at her.

"It's true," Sarah Jane protested.

Even K-9 gave her a look.

Surely, she wasn't that bad?

"Excuse me," Goon-One said looking from Sarah Jane to The Doctor and Rose in confusion. "Miss. Smith do you know these people?"

Sarah Jane smiled, "An old friend and a new friend."

"We're going to have to break up this touching reunion." Goon-Two interjected.

The Doctor ignored the men with the laser guns and focused on the four currently at ease robots, "Hey! Those are new. They look kind of like squashed preying mantises."

"Droidekas!" This unexpectedly came from Rose. "Also known as destroyer droids, a type of battle droid used by the Trade Federation and the CIS…er the Confederacy of Independent Systems; they gained a reputation for deadliness over the course of the Clone Wars. So not so new…" She trailed to a stop at The Doctor's off look and Sarah Jane's befuddled expression. "What?"

"Nothing. Do continue, "The Doctor pursed his lips.

Rose shrugged and continued, "They're able to convert into a wheel-like arrangement, allowing for rapid movement. They can open out into a tripodal weapons platform, outfitted with powerful, built-in blasters and individual shield generators. The shield generators are fairly powerful, able to deflect or soak up any manner of blaster artillery." Her voice was clipped and professional. "So you might want to disable the shields first."

The Doctor was looking at her like she had suddenly sprouted giant butterfly wings. Rose was beginning to get annoyed. It wasn't as though she was planning on flying away.

Sarah Jane was fascinated. It wasn't often that the Doctor was taken aback.

"Who are you two?" Goon-One demanded.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor, this is Rose and I think you already know Sarah Jane."

Goon-Two raised his weapon.

"Nice blaster! Can I see?" Rose held out a hand. To the goon's surprise, the blaster was yanked out of his hand by an invisible force and floated over to Rose. She plucked it out of the air. "Now this is a Mark 3 Punisher class blaster used primarily by Imperial Black Ops."

"What was that?" The Doctor demanded quietly.

Rose sighed. Things had a tendency to catch on fire when this version of the Doctor went quiet. Well, she'd have to deal with it later.

"Telekinesis," Rose said perkily.

"Since when can you do that?" The Doctor asked.

"A while now," Rose smiled winningly.

The Doctor didn't smile, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Never came up." Rose shifted her attention to Sarah Jane. "This is the safety." She demonstrated flicking it off, "And on this is the trigger. Be careful. These things have a nasty kick to them." She passed the blaster into Sarah Jane's unresisting fingers.

"What are you some kind of witch or something?" Goon-One managed.

Rose scowled at him, "Do I look like I'm from Dathomir?" she glanced down at her lizard skin jacket and shrugged. "Although, I can see where you'd make that mistake," She conceded.

If the goons were not so preoccupied by the odd little drama being played out in front of them they would have just let the Droidekas loose right away. In ordinary circumstances, the droids would have smeared the problem right into the ground. This, however; didn't occur to them.

She reached out again and this time Goon-Two's blaster sailed into her hands. She flipped off the safety and hefted it expertly with both hands. "Bit heavier then I'm used to she murmured.

Sarah Jane thought that a perky woman in a pink hoodie had no right to look so menacing.

The goons looked at each other, looked at the suddenly armed women and walked backwards so that they were behind the Droidekas.

"Kill 'em," ordered Goon-One.

The Droidekas stood up.

"This is your fault," the Doctor said to Rose.

Rose stared at him, "How is it my fault?"

"Well it can't be my fault. It just wouldn't be right I'm a doctor," he explained.

Rose shook her head in fond exasperation.

The Droidekas moved forward. The Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver and blew one up. "I disabled the shields generator."

The Droidekas fired blasts of hot light. Sarah Jane took cover behind a dumpster. "K-9, protect!"

"Affirmative," the tin dog fired and managed to disable a droideka and the Doctor finished it off.

Rose let loose a flurry of blaster fire, planting her feet so that the unfamiliar backlash wouldn't land her on her arse. She took the last two out with the ease of Annie Oakley shooting carnival duck cutouts.

The goons did the first smart thing they had done in years. They ran like scared bunnies.

"Should we go after them?" Rose tilted the blaster nose upwards.

"Nooo," the Doctor said drawing out the sound. "We'll catch up with them later."

Sarah Jane stepped out from behind the dumpster and looked from the downed droids to Rose in amazement.

"You might want to put on the safety," Rose recommended.

The older women did just that. With her luck she'd just shoot off her toe.

"How did you do that?" Sarah Jane took in Rose's stance. She had gone from bubbly girl to seasoned warrior in a flash. What had the Doctor been doing with that girl?

Rose shrugged, "It's kind of a long story. I got lost in a galaxy far, far away and…"

"Got religion?" The Doctor interjected.

Rose glared at him.

"That was rude wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. And a bit mean."

"Sorry," was the totally unapologetic reply.

Rose's lips curved, "Also, still not ginger."

"Oi!"

Sarah Jane waved a blaster laden hand, "Hello! Still here. Still waiting on an explanation."

Rose held out her hand to Sarah Jane, "Let me introduce myself. Rose Tyler, Jedi Knight."


	3. Chapter 2

Mr. Cross was afraid. That he was afraid of a teenager didn't seem to matter at the moment. Mostly because said teenager was holding him up in the air and choking the life out of him. And this was important, without touching him in any way. "Lord Razzle, what brings you here?" Mr. Cross was the human equivalent of a crocodile. So showing fear to a child was just unacceptable.

"My master is displeased. Do you no what happens to people when my master is displeased with them," the boy had the most innocent voice. His name was Razzle Fal. He was fourteen years old and he was Sith.

"The same as what happens to people who displease me," Mr. Cross gasped.

Razzle raised an eyebrow and dropped the CEO. "I like you Mr. Cross. And so does my master that is why I haven't ripped out your still beating heart." This was an exaggeration. He wasn't yet up to ripping out bodily organs. Currently, Razzle was not completely seeped in evil…it was more of a thin coating that involved inventive cruelty rather than bloodshed. It was however, gratifying that Mr. Cross believed him. "You're ruthlessness is…refreshing and could take you far in the future."

Mr. Cross nodded.

"What's the delay?" Razzle perched himself on Mr. Cross's very big desk. He swung his legs back and forth.

Mr. Cross did not get this kid. In some ways he was a scary a bastard as anyone Cross had ever met in others he was more innocent then his twelve year old daughter.

"That reporter that's been sniffing around…"

Razzle rolled his eyes. It never failed—the press was exactly the same no matter what galaxy you were in.

Cross shrugged apologetically, "We don't know who she's talked to. So I wanted to talk to her and see what she knew before I have her killed."

He had learned quickly that lying to Razzle or his master was a quick ride to painville and being a smart man he just stopped doing it.

"Sensible precaution."

"We had to _temporarily_ stop production because of her and that damn robot dog," Mr. Cross explained.

"Robot dog? I was under the impression that Earth's technology didn't extend to droids," Razzle Fal said carefully.

"That's mostly right." Cross admitted.

"Mostly right?"

"Yeah, there's a A.I. over in America called Johnny 5. Actually has citizenship. And there rumors about talking cars and thinking helicopters…" Cross trailed off. "I'll have a report made up for you."

"Do that."

The door swung open and in scuffled in two men in ill-fitting suits. One in black, the other in blue.

"Sir, we have a problem." Said Goon-One

They found themselves in a small park after hightailing it away from the alley. The cops had been called in and no one had really wanted to make a statement. They were seated around a picnic table with pealing green paint.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the Galaxy together." Rose explained earnestly.

"What like duct tape?" The Doctor said skeptically.

Rose grinned, "That's what I said. Luke…Luke Skywalker, my master turned so many shades of purple, when I said that, I thought he was gonna pass out," Rose's eyes twinkled as she reminisced.

"Your master?" Sarah Jane noted the Doctor's lips turn down in a rueful pout.

"My teacher. Callin 'im master, it's like sensei. Like in martial arts." Rose explained.

The Doctor's pout didn't go away. He didn't like Rose calling anybody master—in any capacity.

"And you can move things around telekinetically?" Sarah Jane propped up her chin with a thoughtful fist.

"Sort of, yeah." Rose leaned back. "And other stuff."

The Doctor was watching Rose. She had changed. It wasn't just the new hunger for learning…that he found delightful, or the tendency to become battle ready at a moments notice…disturbing but useful, it was her new calm. He wasn't sure if he approved. One of the best things about Rose was her sense of wonder, her verve. Oh, it was still there but it was tempered by knowledge and discipline.

Sarah Jane was watching the Doctor watch Rose. It looked like the happily oblivious Rose was under a blinding searchlight.

"What I would like to know is how a bunch of weaponry from the Geo-Luc galaxy got to Earth." Rose wondered.

The Doctor pulled himself away from his in-depth perusal of his companion's face, "Yeah. That is the question." He turned his attention to Sarah Jane. "How did you get involved in this, Sarah Jane."

The reporter shrugged, "One of my sources came to me with a story. Scunthorp had become the town if you wanted black market weapons. He said that a company…Cross & Bone Inc. was starting to develop weapons that could make what's on the market now obsolete."

Mr. Cross looked at Mr. Bone. Mr. Bone looked back at him.

Mr. Cross supposed it was his own fault. He'd never introduced Bone to Razzle…or his Master. All that Bone knew that was their new munitions business was in the money. Bone was a good partner a man who knew the meaning of 'mutual benefit.'

Mr. Bone was a round man with a balding head. He didn't really understand why his partner in crime was panicked about a couple of safety inspectors. It wasn't as if the entire place was dedicated to making things that went boom.

Bone nodded, "I'll take care of it. Don't worry." He took in Cross's tired expression and his eyes moved to the boy sprawled in a chair changing the channels on the plasma screen with rapt fascination.

"Who's the kid?"

"Ra…Raymond. My godson." Mr. Cross said quickly.


	4. Chapter 3

Bone looked at the strangely bouncy man's credentials. "Dr. Bowman, welcome to Cross & Bone Inc." He looked at Bowman's aide…a stunning blond girl and raised an eyebrow.

The girl smiled and held out a hand to be shaken, "Dr. Tyler. I'm Doctor Bowman's assistant."

The Doctor cocked a questioning eye at Rose.

Bone grunted, "Turning 'em out young these days?"

Rose sighed, "I've got a PH.D in physics and still I get carded."

Bone nodded. It really wasn't any of his business, and gestured for them to follow him.

"Dr. Tyler?" The Doctor teased. "PH.D in physics?"

"Coruscant University. Double doctorate actually," Rose murmured.

The Doctor blinked, "What's the other doctorate in?"

"Xeno-psychiatry."

"Oh."

"Proud of me?"

"Always!"

They grinned at each other.

Sarah Jane slipped through the door whose lock K-9 had picked. The plan was that of two pronged attack. The Doctor and Rose would come in through the front, Sarah Jane and K-9 in from the back…or the side as it were. She'd find out were they were building the munitions while the Doctor and Rose made distraction. When she found it she'd call them. The Doctor hadn't been thrilled with this plan. But, they knew Sarah Jane. So she couldn't be the distraction.

"Track the weapons, boy," she whispered to her dog.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"And this is where the guidance systems are assembled. As you can see they are mostly put together by robotics." Mr. Bone said in a monotone.

Rose hoped this wasn't how he talked to Mrs. Bone.

It looked like any other manufacturing plant. It had robotic arms that screwed things into other things. Technicians in blue jumpsuits scurried from one assembly line to the next.

"We're able to produce the safest and most accurate tracking devices in the world market," Bone puffing out his chest in pride.

"The best 'eh?" The Doctor grinned so widely that Bone took a startled step back. "We're the inspectors here so why don't you let us decide that." His grin seemed to expand and encompass the world before Bones close set eyes.

Razzle dropped the remote and stood up. He had been watching a rerun of something called 'Dawson's Creek.' It was angst ridden and full of pretty girls. He was enjoying it until something brushed up against his awareness.

Mr. Cross watched as the boy turned around in ever widening circles.

"What's wrong?" Mr. Cross asked in alarm.

"There is a disturbance in the force!" Razzle came to a stop. "No. Two disturbances." He cocked his head as if listening. The Dark Side whispered to him. "Time…something about time. A man who walks in time but isn't part of it. A storm…the Oncoming Storm! And the others more subtle–like ripples in a pond, younger…female. Flowers and thorns. And howling."

Sarah Jane smiled, "Here we are."

This room was much like the first the, with the robotic arms and scurrying technicians. Only it was screwing together more of those robot things… droidekas, Rose called them. She opened the door and peered in. A round thing that looked a lot like a golf ball as big as a truck hung from the ceiling on metal wires. She had traveled long enough with the Doctor to know when something was bad. And this was bad.

"'Ello, Miss. Smith, fancy meeting you here."

Sarah Jane slowly turned round. Goon-One and Goon-Two smiled at her.

Rose turned around slowly. She tuned out Bone and his deadly dule monologing. She reached out with the Force. Something had been clouding her sight all day. She didn't know what it was but it was pervasive like ink in water. And now the dark obscuing mist parted.

Razzle entered the room, his back straight and stiff with Mr. Cross at his heels. He had to see.

The man out of time…the Time Lord! The Dark Side spoke of a tsunami that swept everything in its path, which changed even the molecules in front of it…; Razzle had thought that he'd be taller.

He found himself looking into the deep brown eyes of a woman who blazed in the Force like a new born star.

"Jedi," Razzle hissed. He had never met one. But, he knew instinctively what one felt like. It was like being hit in the face with a ball of sunlight.

"Sith," Rose said reaching for calm.

The Doctor looked from the boy to Rose. He felt like one of the townsfolk in an old western watching a gunfight waiting for who would draw first. Even the some of the technicians had stopped and were watching the staring match in fasination.

Bone bored on.

Razzle did the one thing his master had suggested was a really bad idea when meeting a Jedi. He ran. Rose followed.

A forklift barred her way. Rose didn't go around; she leapt over the lumbering vehical.

"Oh, that was brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed.

Razzle took in the many obstacles in-between him and the door and jumped onto a swiveling robot arm.

Bone had finally trailed off when he noticed he didn't have an audience anymore.

"I'll just call security," the rotund gun runner said reaching for his cell phone.

"Don't even think about it," The Doctor plucked the offending phone from his fingers and turned round in time to see Rose swing herself up onto a robotic arm to give chase over the tops of massive machinery.

Rose and Razzle were moving faster than any human should be able to move. The Doctor was torn. He knew this was not possible for humans and it was troubling. It was also just so…cool! Rose just somersaulted over three people and ran half way up a wall!

Razzle dropped onto a conveyer belt, rolled of it and made a beeline to the door. Rose pursued.

Sarah Jane was running from the goons, K-9 at her side. I really need to join a gym was her thought before colliding with the fleeing Razzle. They fell down in a crash of limbs with the young Sith smashing his shins against K-9's metal sides.

Razzle had pulled himself free and was preparing to bolt when his arm was grabbed and twisted around his back.

"You, Darth Brat are trapped between the Black Hole of Nakat and the Magataran Maelstrom," Rose said in his ear.

The Goons thundered around the corner. They saw Sarah Jane, that damn tin dog, and Glinda the kickass witch of the north with trouble in her eye. They stumbled to a stop.

"You two! Take a sick day!" Rose ordered sharply.

The goons didn't think that overtime was compensation enough for dealing with Glinda again so they took her advice, turned and left the building.

"Sarah Jane," Rose asked reflectively.

"Yes."

"Do you still have the blasters in your purse?"

Sarah Jane nodded.

"And it never occurred to you to, I don't know, threaten them with it?"

Sarah Jane blinked, "Not really, no."

Rose sighed.

"My master will destroy you!" Razzle squirmed and tried to pull away.

Rose hung on grimly, "We'll see."


	5. Chapter 4

"So, what's a Sith?" The Doctor asked intently.

Rose shrugged uncomfortably, "The opposite of a Jedi really. Where we're all about saving and preserving life; they want to subdue and dominate. Their power comes from hatred and anger. And the Dark Side of the Force."

They were following Sarah Jane and K-9 to the munitions lab. Rose who had reclaimed a blaster had Razzle tied up and gagged and was pushing him along with grim purpose. The Doctor was not happy by this turn of events. The Rose he new would never threaten a child.

Of course the Rose he knew couldn't move things about with her mind or run up walls so maybe he was missing something.

"Dark Side of the Force? Sounds dramatic." He ventured.

"Dramatic…I guess that's one way to describe it." Rose bit her lip.

The Doctor decided after a internal debate to try again, "He's only about fourteen you know?"

Rose stopped in her tracks for a moment. They'd never get anywhere if he didn't take this seriously. She pulled Razzle up and glared at the Doctor in frustration. "Just because he's young doesn't mean he's innocent."

They followed Sarah Jane to the munitions lab and stared mutely at the army of droidekas being assembled. Their eyes panned upward to take in what Sarah Jane had taken to thinking of as the 'Giant Golfball of Doom.'

"Kriff." Rose said flatly.

Razzle stopped struggling to stare at Rose. The Jedi was confusing. She was a noble he was sure of it...a noble with the vocabulary of a scoundrel!

"It's a mini Deathstar," she breathed.

"Deathstar?" The Doctor said tasting the word. He didn't find it to his liking. Things with the word death in them were rarely good. Never good really. Okay, maybe twice.

"Mini?" They were supposed to be bigger? Sarah Jane contemplated.

"Yeah, they're supposed to be as big a moon."

Sarah Jane let out a harsh breath, "Big as a moon?"

Rose nodded.

"What is it for? The Doctor asked carefully.

"The originals were planet killers." Rose replied. The following silence was profound. "I'm guessing that that this one's for the destruction of nations." Her expression was cold. "Just a thought but I think Darth Brat and his master, wherever he's hiding, is after taking over the world."

The Jedi contemplated and then marched with purpose to the fire alarm pulling Razzle by the arm. She reached out and pulled it and smiled in satisfaction at the panicked running and screaming the high pitched whine of the alarm induced.

The Doctor clapped his hands together briskly, "We have work to do."

Sarah Jane watched in bemusement as Rose duck taped Razzle's arms over his head and onto a wall. "Why are you doing that?"

"So he's tied up and his hands are seen at all times."

The Doctor had gone to the main computers to do destroy the specs and cross galaxy science the Sith had given Cross & Bone. He had been dubious about leaving the women to deal with the droidekas and the mini Deathstar but had relented when Rose had assured him that it would get handled.

Rose finished with a satisfied nod and lowered her face to Razzle, "I know that you really wouldn't have any trouble getting out of this so…" She tossed the blaster to Sarah Jane who caught and glared at Rose. "If he tries anything shot him in the leg."

"What sort of anything?"

"Moving things with his mind. Choking the life out of you from a distance. That sort of anything."

"Okay."

Rose looked thoughtfully at the droidekas in various stages of construction and the mini Deathstar. "I suppose if I sped up the rate of cellular decomposition…" She raised her hands and concentrated. The world looked different through the Force. Rose didn't know what it was like for others but for her it was like throwing off illusion for reality. She could for instance see people as they really were—their essence. Sarah Jane was a violet flame, Razzle, an ever darkening blue and K-9, a bright spark. She made a mental note to _**never ever**_ try that on the Doctor. She'd probably go blind.

Rose wasn't looking to see souls at the moment. Her sight focused and microscope-d in. The world went from solid objects to lots of empty space and molecules. Now all she had to do was shift some things around.

The Doctor was situated in front of the 'god board.' This should be fairly easy. All he had to do here was to fabricate a search and destroy virus. That at least would take care of technologic blueprints and such. He also located where they were constructing the blasters, at a Cross &Bone satellite lab across town and the warehouses where they kept their weaponry. He didn't want to take any chances with the timeline.

Satisfied with his work he was about to leave when the monitor caught his eye. In each small square he viewed a part of the building. Naturally, his eye caught the droid room.

He knew he shouldn't but he turned up the volume.

"_So how are the two of you these days," Said Sarah Jane's voice through the speakers. "Things seem a little tense."_

_Rose shrugged, "We're fine. Things were sort of awkward when we met up again…but we're better now."_

"_Five years, lost in another galaxy. I can't imagine." Sarah Jane commiserated._

"_Wasn't so bad. Okay it was," she admitted recalling the shock of being thrown through the Void. Rose supposed she was lucky she had lost consciousness for most of it. Probably why she was still sane. Then being lost on Tatooine and not knowing the language…and the utter helplessness. "At first at least. Then things got better." _

_Sarah Jane walked over and copied Rose's stance of leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. "So things are back to normal now?"_

_Rose snorted derisively, "Normal. When are things ever normal with the Doctor."_

_Sarah Jane wasn't an ace reporter for nothing, "True. But that's not going to get you out of answering my question."_

"_The Doctor," Rose said ruefully, "thought that everything could go back to exactly the way it was. I'm not exactly the same Rose I was." She let out breath. "He can change everything about himself and your expected to just go with it. He doesn't even give you time to adjust. He doesn't seem to get that we change too. It was five years…" She trailed off._

_Sarah Jane looked at the younger woman thoughtfully. So. She had gone through regeneration of sorts and all that that implied. _

"_And he doesn't take me seriously!" Rose made a face. "The first time I tried to explain the whole Jedi thing he just laughed it off. He thought it was funny. Like I was just making time until he came to rescue me."_

One day the brigadier had been full of vigor and nowadays he walked heavily on a cane. He had kept his shock at his old friend's deteriorating health firmly in check the last time he had been to visit.

He'd noticed that she'd changed. He didn't get to his mid 900's by being unobservant, thank you. Humans changed. Minute by minute they changed. They seemed to be born dying.

And as for not taking the Jedi thing seriously? Rose had up and joined an ancient society of mystic warriors. They wore robes.

_Sarah Jane took in the vehemence of Rose's tone stoically. "You didn't think he'd come for you."_

It wasn't a question. It was a statement that seemed specially crafted to make the Doctor wince. Well, that hurt. She didn't think he'd come for her. He'd scoured the time and space to find her. The idea of her hurt and alone had haunted him. He'd nearly gone mad with worry.

_Rose shrugged, "I really thought that I wasn't going to see him again. So I was very angry at him for a time and hurt. But hurt eventually heals and I had a life to lead." She let out a laugh looking at last a little like the girl Sarah Jane had first met. "When he came to get me I realized things had to change."_

_Rose gave Sarah Jane a sideways glance, "I gave him up."_

_The reporter blinked. "You gave him up."_

"_Not that he was ever really mine to give up. I gave up the hope of him." Rose smiled sadly. _

"_Oh."_

"_It hurts to much to love him. Being in love with the Doctor…it just hurts."_

_Sarah Jane loved the Doctor. Her relationship with him had been intense and more than worth the monsters. But she had never been __in__ love with him. It was not even something she had ever contemplated. Being in love with the Doctor had to be a bit like being in love with lightning or fancying the ocean. It was something that could only end in pain. _

Oh Rose. He'd known it. But why did she have to say it? He knew that it wasn't a child's fancy. It was real. Her love for him sang out and warmed him like sunlight. It was the one star he'd never get to touch. The one adventure he'd never get to have.

He loved all his companions. But, Rose was special. She'd saved his soul.

After he'd survived the war the Doctor had been on the verge of giving up…a Time Lord with a death wish. But he had met this silly ape-shop girl who had stitched him back together. And he couldn't love her.

It was something that he just couldn't allow. His father had loved a human. His mother, a woman the Doctor had never met. He'd been taken from inside her and reworked in a Loom. She had been returned to Earth with no memory of his father.

They had given him to his father as a kind of consolation prize. Being separated from her had broken his father. He'd grown up with a man who was dying by inches.

He could never allow himself to be in love with Rose

But he couldn't let her go. Not yet at least.

_Sarah Jane knew what the Doctor hadn't seen. He'd noticed she'd changed. The reporter knew that he noticed everything. But he had missed what it meant. The raw material had been refined, melted and shaped into something else. Something new._

"_So I will be his friend…for however long we are supposed to walk together. From meetings and partings none can ever escape." Rose's voice was as bittersweet and rich as chocolate and now it held sadness and nobility, won as true nobility was ever won by humans— by sacrifice. _

_Rose shrugged. "Wolves mate for life," she murmured too low for Sarah Jane to catch._

The Doctor caught it. He ignored the sentiment and grabbed onto the subject. Rose referring to herself as a wolf could not be a good thing.


	6. Chapter 5

"I thought you were going to do something about this," the Doctor said looking at the not destroyed droidekas and the not destroyed ping-pong ball of death.

Rose grinned, "I did do something." She reached out lightly grasping the head of a droid. It crumbled to dust. "I broke them down to their base components."

The Doctor looked pensively at her. "And how did you manage that?"

"Magic!" Came the cheeky reply.

Sarah Jane rubbed her hands together, "What's next?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Rose.

"I find the Sith Lord and fight him."

The Doctor whirled on her, "What was that?"

"I fight the Sith Lord. It's not the best plan but it's the only one I've got." Rose wrinkled her nose. "I'm a little worried about it. Not afraid mind you. 'Cause fear is of the Dark Side. It's just that I've never actually faced a Sith Lord before. Dark Jedi yes, Sith no. So I think I'm entitled to the worry."

The Doctor looked at her in such a way as to indicate that not only had she grown butterfly wings and was about to fly off but was also deranged as only post office employees at Christmas could be deranged. "You," he said distinctly, "are not going to face anyone. You are not going to fight anyone."

Rose lips turned down a bit at the corners, "That so?"

The Doctor continued unaware of the trouble brewing in front of him.

Sarah Jane wasn't unaware and so she put several feet between the Time Lord and his Companion. She vaguely wondered why she was capitalizing companion. When she was a companion it wasn't capitalized.

The Doctor went on, "You are going to stay where it's safe." The unsaid but very much there 'like a good girl' hovered like a balloon in the air.

Razzle from his uncomfortable position on the wall also wasn't unaware. He could hear through the Force something that sounded like the questioning bark-whine of a predator coming from Rose. This was the question of something furred and armed with very sharp teeth. The question was the canine equivalent of 'oh no you didn't' only with the cravat of 'you better not have.'

"I'm a Jedi Knight." Rose's voice was flat and without inflection.

"I'm a Time Lord. I outrank you." Was the Doctor's equally flat rejoinder.

"You don't understand. It's my job."

The Doctor glared at her, "No it's not it's mine. I don't know what you're playing at Rose but you need to stop it."

Rose let out a indignant gasp.

Sarah Jane felt rather like a child whose parents were fighting. Uncomfortable, embarrassed and a little scared. She wondered if finding something to hide behind was a viable option at this point.

"Why you arrogant, prancing, scruffy-looking nerfherder!" Rose said angerly before stomping off in Razzle's general direction. The apprentice tried to melt into the wall.

The Doctor stared after her. "I don't prance! I stride and sometimes when the spirit moves me I saunter. And scruffy-looking? I'm very dapper I'll have you know."

Sarah Jane was watching Rose pace, stop and look at the Doctor and knew instinctively that the Jedi was up to no good. This was self evident in the way she narrowed her eyes and in the way her nostrils flared.

Rose _stalked _over to the Doctor. When he looked up at her in surprise, she hit him. A sharp jaw to his chin and he was down for the count. His expression was one of hurt astonishment.

Rose cringed. She just didn't see another way.

"Rose! What are you doing?" Sarah Jane rushed over to the Doctor's prone form.

"Master !," K-9 rolled over to nudge at the fallen time traveler.

"'Es fine. His head is too hard for any real damage." Rose extracted the sonic screwdriver from one of the Doctor's pockets and dropped it on a conveyer belt. She looked at the dog considering, "K-9 take a nap."

"**Affirmative."** The canine droid came to an abrupt stop as Rose reached in with the Force and switched him off.

"Dream of electric poodles," Rose patted the dog on his tin head. She looked up into Sarah Jane's horrified eyes. "I can't stand around and argue with him." She reached out into air and made an robotic arm pick the Doctor up by the scruff of his neck and hold him in midair. "I have a duty." Her voice was soft and sad. Rose tenderly caressed his messy brown locks.

Sarah Jane knew that this new Rose wouldn't hurt her. She also knew that she could no more stop Rose then she could the Doctor. That was the main reason that she hadn't put up much of a fight when the blasters were taken from her and she was ushered into a closet.

"He's going to be bloody furious when he wakes up," Sarah Jane felt moved to point out.

Rose shrugged, "Probably. But it's something I have to do. He's not the only sentient in the universe that can take responsibility for stuff."

When Sarah Jane had first met Rose, after she had gotten over the resentment, she had taken the girls measure and found her suitable for the Doctor. Now she wondered if the Doctor was suitable for Rose.

"Just give me a head start."

Sarah Jane smiled at her, "Good luck."

Rose ripped the duct tape from Razzle's wrists. The boy barely had time to break his fall when the older women grabbed his arm spun him around and removed the gag.

"Darth Brat, take me to your master."

The apprentice nodded, "It's your funeral. There's a shuttle on the roof."

She poked him in the back with a blaster and nodded towards the exist.

"You and that doctor guy been married long?"

"Why does everybody think that?"

It took Sarah Jane a good three minutes to get out of the closet and four to wake up the Doctor and hand him his sonic screwdriver. In his haste to get free of the arm he forgot to have it lower to the ground. Instead the pincers opened and he fell to the ground with a resounding thump.

"I'm going to just lie here for a minute. I'm an old man, and I get tired."

It was seven minute to the roof. Just in time to see the shiny black shuttle rise up and shoot into the sky.

The Doctor stood watching the transport carry Rose away from him, his hands tightly fisted, his mouth a hard line.


	7. Chapter 6

The shuttle slid smoothly into the black warship. Darth Brat was a good pilot she'd give him that.

"Do, or do not. There is no try," she murmured.

Razzle held out his hand and concentrated on the blaster. Rose grinned and tossed it to him.

"Don't knock yourself out kiddo," Rose plastered on an expression of smug self confidence that she learned from a Corellian pirate turned general.

"Were you ever a x-wing pilot?"

She stood up with fluid grace. "Rogue Squadron. How'd you guess?"

"Only a x-wing pilot would be so cocky in the face of certain death," Razzle replied.

The Sith Lord stood waiting. A living shadow with cold eyes. "So the Bad Wolf…welcome. His voice was even colder than his eyes.

Razzle moved away from Rose to take his place by his master.

Rose blinked. For the last five years she'd had dreams that frequently stared the Game Station, Platform 5 and the Bad Wolf. Dreams that made her cry in her sleep.

She was momentarily flooded with bits of memories that whispered and tugged at her mind like a song from another room she had heard as a child.

_I looked into the TARDIS... and the TARDIS looked into me…I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself…_

_Rose, you've got to stop this! You've got to stop this __now!__ You've got the entire Vortex running through your head, you're gonna burn!_

_I want you safe... My Doctor…Everything must come to dust. All things…I can see everything. All that is. All that was. All that ever could be._

_I think you need a doctor._

Rose pulled out of the faded memories. That was interesting. If she survived she'd look into it. She had a job to do.

"Rose Tyler, Jedi Knight."

"You may call me Darth Demonium," The Sith lord intoned.

Demonium? As in pandemonium?" Rose lifted an eyebrow at her captor. The name sounded like something you call yourself if you were trying too hard to sound lubed.

Rose had to know, "How did you get here?"

Darth Demonium shrugged, "A wormhole near the Hapes Cluster."

A wormhole—that would explain it. They always turned up and made things ten times more difficult.

The Sith Lord looked her over curiously, "You're wondering how I know that name are you not? Bad Wolf?"

Rose shrugged, "It did cross my mind."

"There are stories about you," the Sith explained. "I know who you are. Rose Tyler. Both Sith and Jedi lore speaks of you. A legend half remembered passed from generation to generation."

"Are there?" Rose was confused. How could he possibly know her?

"The stories say you travel through time at the side of the Eternal Man."

Okay. That explained that. She and the Doctor must be due to travel back in time and do something memorable.

"The names for you are many. The Bad Wolf. The Unknown Jedi. Time's Rose…"

She started. Luke had called her Time's Rose during her knighthood ceremony.

"The First Jedi."

Now wait a minute!

"The Mother of all Futures."

Rose's brown eyes widened. Was that stupid Ewok prophesy going to follow her everywhere?

"Jedi Who."

Rose goggled at him.

Naturally, this was when the air filled with a familiar hum and the TARDIS solidified out of thin air. And the door opened.


	8. Chapter 7

Sarah Jane had to listen to the silence that the Doctor projected on the way from the factory to the TARDIS. This silence had much in common with silences that lived in the frozen South Pole. Only angrier and lacking penguins.

She'd endured his silence as they collected K-9. She endured his silence when they found they couldn't turn him back on. She endured his silence as he hotwired a stolen car.

And now in the TARDIS she couldn't take the cold.

"Doctor," she began.

He whirled on her, "She hit me! Rose hit me! That master of hers is going to regret the day he ever met me." The Doctor was beyond furious. And yet none of his anger was directed at Rose. It was at himself for losing her in the first place; it was at the blasted Jedi, and that Force thing. Never at her.

He had managed to get the shuttles signature before it had carried Rose off he fed it into the computer and waited impatiently.

"There we are," The Doctor said. "Aren't you a beauty?" The sleek dark warship was parked on the dark side of the moon. Dark side. It was like a visual pun. He stoically punched in the coordinates.

Sarah Jane prudently decided not to say anything else. Let him erupt at the bad guy. The Doctor's anger wasn't something she wanted to be in front of.

They found Rose, Razzle and Razzle's master in the shuttle bay.

Rose looked startled. She really hadn't been expecting them so soon. The Doctor's eyes caught hers. She fought the urge to cringe.

The Sith Lord looked from Rose to the Doctor in fascination. Demonium wondered if the Doctor knew he was bound to the girl. There were faint ties between the Eternal Man and the older woman but the ties binding him to the Unknown Jedi were of Mandalorian Steel.

"Rose," The Doctor said softly.

The girl smiled sadly at him, "I have a duty. And that's more important than anything. Even being your companion."

A part of the Doctor that wasn't banging itself against a wall in frustration wondered 'Where does she find them? Even her enemies are pretty boys'.

Rose reached into her jacket and pulled out what looked like a large fancy torch. She looked at the Sith who also had one at hand.

Razzle quickly moved himself to a safer position. He knew what was coming even if the other two didn't.

"One warning. One chance. Leave my world and I won't kill you," Rose said flatly.

Darth Demonium smiled. She a charming little thing, too bad she couldn't be turned. He had to destroy her before she was done becoming.

They both settled into combat crouches. "Let's see if you are named truly."

There was a sharp whooshing and the smell of ozone and the two faced each other lightsabers at the ready.

Sarah Jane stared opened mouthed at the shining blades. This was different.

The Doctor's brown eyes were wide as he gazed at Rose. She looked magnificent and dangerous and altogether beautiful as she readied to battle for her world.

Rose had designed her lightsaber hilt after her masters. They were virtually alike— a plain utilitarian design save for the golden electrum finish…which she had added just so it would be pretty. This was Rose after all.

The lightsaber had three focusing crystals Rose had chosen carefully; a 'Pontite' Adegan crystal which had among other abilities had an aura that cooled tempers (hers had a tendency to get away from her), a synth-crystal she herself had forged imbued with all her fierce love of and for life, and the last was a small Kaiburr crystal, although this was a crystal that could increase her Force abilities a thousand fold, she kept it in reserve—just in case.

Rose's lightsaber glowed with the same shimmery blue-green, green-blue light the Earth seemed to cast. It let off white hot sparks as it met Demonium's red blade.

_**Cue Star Wars fight music.**_

It was an old dance, a battle that had been going when life had first come forth from the void, an argument between two powers that now had taken the form of a dark warrior who had given himself over to hate and a valiant child who'd once held all of time and space under fragile skin.

The Doctor's anger and fear for Rose melted under the sheer wonder of the ballet of blades. He barely noticed Demonium, his focus was on his Companion. She was moving all to fast for the eye to see, the human eye at least. Not so the Doctor. He could see every smooth, studied movement.

Sarah Jane was remembering the stories her grandfather had told about the knights of old. Rose had called herself a knight. What was that code…_A knight is sworn to valor… _

The combatants clashed together again and again silver sparks spun in the air. Demonium was good. Rose had to admit it. He was a master of Form V: Djem So, The Perseverance Form or as it was more familiarly known as the _Way of the Krayt Dragon_. An aggressive style that emphasized strength, power and action. Always forward motion was this approach. He was much more experience than she.

Rose was trained in Djem So—any student of Luke Skywalker was inevitably taught the form. She was okay in Djem So but she excelled in Form IV: Ataru, _Way of the Hawk-Bat_. An aggressive combat form relying on a combination of power, speed, and grace. She may have taken to Aturu because of her background as a bronze medal gymnast…she would have had a shot at the gold had she not discovered boys.

She ducked under the angry red blade. And considered. She would have been toast if she just had Djem So and Ataru to depend on. Luckily those aren't the only tricks she had up her sleeve…when on a learning binge you never stick to just one disciple. Learn anything from anyone who is willing to teach. Learn Alderaanian martial arts from a princess, how to brawl from a pirate, learn how to turn your body into a weapon from a assassin. Blend them all into a seamless dance that flowed one movement into the next without pause relentless as the golden flow of time.

The Doctor bit his lip as Rose somersaulted over the Sith and parried a scarlet blow.

Sarah Jane shot the Doctor a confused look as he chucked without humor.

"What is it?" She ventured.

He ran a hand through brown hair and pulled hard, "She'll never be able to stay. Rose can never go home…not for good anyway. I can see it clearly left to her own devises tyrants will fall, hostages will be rescued, wrongs righted. She won't be able to help it. And the timeline will unravel around her."

Sarah Jane regarded the Time Lord's pale face and guilty eyes.

"I never meant for Rose to lose her home." His eyes widened as another thought accorded to him. "Her mum's gonna kill me!"

Darth Demonium was getting…not worried. He didn't get worried. Perhaps apprehensive. The Jedi was still young and relatively untried so she couldn't be lasting so long against him. A spinning kick followed by a roundhouse jarred him backwards. He was moving backwards? He pulled on his anger, his rage and shoved Rose back with the Force and she stumbled to a stop.

"Such a strong little girl," He said with false admiration. "But Jedi consider…you'll not defeat me. The legends are as all legends. Lies."

Rose rolled her eyes. The Dun Möch. Basically, a Force backed version of trash talking designed to make a Jedi doubt themselves. Please. Rose had attended a public high school.

Darth Demonium circled thinking her frown a sign of weakness. "No, matter what the stories say you're just a pretty little girl. You can't stop me." He swooshed forward. Rose mechanically raised her blade to block him. "You can't make a differece," He flooded his words with despair.

The Doctor saw Rose blink uncertainly and stepped forward. "Rose," He called.

She shifted her face towards him and their eyes met and held, "Rose, listen to me. You make a difference. You can do anything."

A slow smile lit her features from within, "Anything?"

The Doctor grinned at her, "Anything."

Rose turned once more to the Sith Lord, "Shall we dance?"

Darth Demonium was pushed back by her blade that sang as it slashed at him. He had meant to install doubt into the girl but instead he could feel his confidence leaving him as the Jedi attacked with joyous vigor.

Rose spun into the Falling Leaf maneuver that she'd learnt from a Force Ghost on Ruusan, "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

He countered with the Spinning Attack. Rose responded by kicking him somewhere he didn't want to be kicked and then punching him in the face. That she learned from Han.

He was Sith so he didn't let the intense pain stop him and jumped up. The Dark Side lapped at his rage eagerly. He gripped his lightsaber in one hand and spun in a 360-degree turn called a Shun that knocked Rose's weapon out of her hands. It clicked off and rolled a few feet away. She stepped backwards her hands in the air.

Demonium smiled as he raised his blade.

The Doctor didn't even stop to think, the sonic screwdriver was out of his pocket and leveled it at the Sith lord. An orange flash and the Sith's blade was also out of his hands.

The Sith was amused, "Do you think that will stop me?" His blue eyes filled with a sickly yellow light. He flexed his fingers that had clenched up as if he were suddenly afflicted with arthritis.

Kriff! Rose thought.

Demonium reached out a hand towards Rose and unleashed blue lightning.

The Doctor was a Time Lord. This meant more than thirteen lives. It meant more than TARDISES. The ability to manipulate time came before his people had figured out space travel.

So he slowed time. And as he walked forward to get Rose out of the line of fire, she moved.

It was in slow motion and she should not have been able to do it. It was an impossibility. And yet Rose's hand moved forward in the classic 'stop' position. In front of her outstretched hand a gold mist began to spill into the air.

The Doctor looked from the blue lightning to the gold mist and smiled. His girl had picked up a few things it appeared.

Time in!

Rose's hand shot up and a golden shield appeared between her and the Sith lord. "I don't suppose it ever accursed to you, given that while you get power fast and dirty in a relatively easy way from the Dark Side, there's something to be said for the hard road? Ya know the one that requires a clear head?"

If possible the Sith's expression went even darker and he let lose yet more lightning that she blocked with her shield.

She had learned patience. Rose was content to wait him out. You couldn't keep channeling something like that without it costing something. She just hoped his exhaustion point came before hers.

Demonium needed someway to break her concentration…and he had it. The Eternal Man stood vulnerable. He spun and lashed out lighting towards the Doctor.

Rose dropped her shield and grabbed and ignited her lightsaber in one flowing movement. She blurred and was before the Sith. A flash of blue-green light and she had pierced his heart.

The Sith lord fell with a sickening thud.

Sarah Jane's hand covered her mouth in shock. '_Her wrath undoes the wicked.' _

Rose disengaged her lightsaber and pocketed it. Her hands became fisted with white knuckles. Killing came a bit too easily for the Jedi's liking. In an x-wing it was easier because you didn't see your victims. And as for face to face battle…

"You know why lightsabers are the Jedi's weapon Doctor? It's so we can see our enemies' eyes when we kill them."

"A wolf kills without hesitation or remorse. We kill to protect what is ours," whispered the Wolf to the Jedi.

"Rose," the Doctor said softly as if she were some frightened wild thing. He ran his fingers down the side of her pale face, and tipped her chin upwards so she could see into his eyes.

He was all too familiar with the fallout of making a choice, taking responsibility for something. Rose had taken responsibility for her world and had chosen the consequences of that choice. And now comes the fallout. At least Rose wouldn't have to go through it alone.

He rubbed a thumb along her jaw and pulled her into his arms. "Brave heart, Rose."

She clung to him with unshed tears pooling in her eyes. Her body trembled in his arms and her frantically beating heart slowed until its rate for beat was exactly between the Doctor's heart rates.

The Doctor kissed her forehead. "It'll get better. I'm with you," He said into her hair.

Sarah Jane was acutely uncomfortable. The embrace between Time Lord and Jedi was the most intimate thing she had ever seen.

She had been hugged by the Doctor but never had been pulled so close. They look like there going to melt into each other. He had always been protective of his companions. But this…warm all encompassing possessiveness was new.

Unbeknownst, to the three people caught up in their little production a thin red line of pulsating light slithered to Demonium's fallen lightsaber and merged with the metal.

Razzle was in shock. His master was dead. Killed by that girl. It was inconceivable. The newly master less learner scooped up the fallen lightsaber and ran for the lift.

"Hey!" Sarah Jane called out as the boy disappeared from view.

Rose reluctantly detangled herself from the Doctor's arms and shook her head. "Let him go. He's going get into an escape pod and get as far away from Earth as he can."

"How do you know?" Sarah Jane asked.

"His master had just been killed, so he's going to want as much distance possible between him and me," She shrugged. "Also, it's what I would do."

Rose smiled sadly at the Doctor, "Want to help blow up a ship?"

He ignored that in favor of capturing one of her hands in his. "Are you alright?" Immediately afterwards he cursed himself for asking an idiotic question. Of course she wasn't alright.

"It will mend."


	9. Chapter 8

Three days for cleanup Sarah Jane mused. It hadn't taken long at all to self-destruct the ship, it had taken considerably longer to track down the weapons and their plans and destroy them.

Both the Doctor and Rose had been dismayed to find that Torchwood had been an investor for Cross & Bone Inc.

Harriet Jones, MP; Flydale North (former), Prime Minister (former) who was now the under supervisor for Torchwood nearly choked on her tea when she found an e-mail from the Doctor advising her to be more careful who she did business with in the future.

The Doctor was in the TARDIS making some last minute repairs while Rose sat outside with Sarah Jane basking in the sunlight.

The reporter kept glancing at Rose out of the corner of her eye. This Rose found annoying.

"What?"

"It's nothing," Sarah Jane said quickly.

"If it were nothing you wouldn't be staring at me."

"You look sad."

"Sarah Jane, I just killed someone."

"That's not what's troubling you."

Rose giggled, "you are freakishly observant ya' know?"

"Ace Reporter. Nothing gets past me."

Rose wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't know if he wants me to go with him."

Sarah Jane blinked.

"You saw what I did." Rose closed her eyes.

Ah. Sarah Jane bit her lip. So this was the crux of it. "Rose, trust me when I say, the Doctor's seen much worse." He's done worse she thought. "He'll not turn away from you."

"So it's all down to me having faith," Rose said.

Sarah Jane nodded, "that's all it ever comes down to."

"That's good. I can be Wendy a bit longer," Rose grinned.

"Wendy?"

"Wendy Moira Angela Darling."

Sarah Jane stared at her before laughing, "You're right. That's just who he is. Peter Pan, the Doctor is Peter Pan!"

Rose's laughter joined hers, "And the TARDIS is Neverland _and_ Tinker Bell!"

"Stop that!" It was the Doctor, looking from one to the other in mock horror. "Every time you two get together it becomes 'Make Fun of the Doctor Day.'"

"That's not true," Rose protested through her giggles. "Every day is 'Make Fun of the Doctor Day."

Sarah Jane smiled as the two bickered like an old married couple. She stood briskly. "I'm off."

"More trouble to get into?" The Doctor inquired.

"I have a story to write," Sarah Jane said happily.

She hugged Rose, "Thank you for waking up my dog."

"'elcome."

"Have faith dear heart," Sarah Jane whispered. "All will be well." She wasn't sure how she knew this…maybe this assurance came from the same place her faith came from.

The two women released each other.

Sarah Jane hugged the Doctor, who swung her around before sitting her on the ground.

"Oh, Sarah Jane you might want to look up Harry."

The former companion raised an eyebrow, "Harry Sullivan? What did happen to him?"

The Doctor shrugged and smiled mysteriously down at her, "You might want to find out."

He patted K-9 on the head, "You take care of her."

"Affirmative master," barked the dog droid.

The ace reporter and her dog waved back at them on their way out of the park.

"May the Force be with you," Rose chimed after them in blessing.

"So," the Doctor began only to be cut off.

"Are you okay with this?" She squirmed a bit.

"With what?" He asked gently.

"New, New Rose. The Jedi thing?"

"I think that I will like new, new Rose as much as I liked the older model. And I suppose I can live with the Jedi thing." He said grudgingly. "As long as you never hit me again."

Rose flushed, "Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"Not really. I've a very hard head." He gave her a sideways glance. "I will not interfere with what you see as your duty."

Rose's face was very still, "Thank you." Her expression lightened, "And I promise. No more hitting."

"Well, if that's settled?" He held out a hand and wiggled it about.

Rose took with a grin, "Where are we going now?"

The Doctor answered her grin with one of his own, "I was thinking 'First star on the right, straight on until morning.'"


	10. Notes

Dear reader this fic was the result of viscous plot bunnies nibbling at my toes and ears as I slept. They injected me with story venom causing me to wake up shouting things like 'But Rose doesn't have a lightsaber!' and, 'The Doctor isn't always right!" and, "The blue jello really is the best!" I think that last one hopped over from the Stargate SG1 fandom. And it didn't help that my fandom muse Kyle—he looks like Daniel Shanks in a pinstripe suit was whispering sweet weirdness in my ear. To conclude this wasn't my fault!

P.S. I got all my Star Wars info over at wookieepedia. Go there it rocks!

P.P.S. If anyone wants to make a manip of the Doctor and Jedi Rose that be nifty!


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